Day 129 And it's raining again

I got some catching up to do with my blog, as I've been working a bit too much lately. So now I decided to blog from my phone a bit which means I can do it on the go. So apologies if you've been starved for an update.

At the moment I'm at the office waiting for the rain to stop so I can cycle home. It's been raining every afternoon for the past week. Shouldn't really complain, as my mom and them back in South Africa had 300 plus mm in two days last week.

Day 88 Moving day

I helped a friend move today, and I don't think these jeans would see a more challenging day. Well at least I hope not.

First the move, up the stairs, down the stairs, through the window, over the table and into the cellar, up to the attic, down to the cellar, out the window, in the window and then some. Luckily it didn't rain. Or at least not then. It did rain though on my 5 kilometre uphill cycle home and these jeans weren't soaked, but very wet, I did have to hang them up and see if I could get them dry with a hair dryer. But then i didn't know if that would make them shrink, so in the end i just left them hung up.

Don't think they'll be the same again.

Day 85 More rain

Our lives in Gothenburg are dominated by the weather. Every second day seems to be rainy. Luckily not stormy and rainy, just rain. So maybe we shouldn't complain. Makes this denim test just a little more interesting though, whilst trying to wear them and not get them wet. Like I said before though, they've gotten wet so much lately with all the rain I wonder if they're shrinking already?

Day 82 IKEA on a rainy day

Went to IKEA yesterday, which is the best thing to do on a rainy cold day. It did however start pouring down on the way to the car. Not so easy to run when you're carrying bags and skipping and hopping over puddles of water. Looks like a lot of rain this week. These jeans are shrinking already I fear.

Day 43 A rainy day

Even though today is a grey and rainy day here in Gothenburg, I have my new colourful Dr.Denim Laurence Turquoise Check shirt on. Very nice fit and colourful for Spring. I really love the cut, fits me like a glove.

Day 10 And more rain

Just as if I was teasing the gods with my post on day 6 about no rain and perfectly sunny weather, it's not stopped raining since then. Keeping these jeans dry seems now to be an exercise in survival. Running from building to building, tree to tree and so on, just to keep them dry.

Day 9 Snow and Rain

I spoke to soon about not having any rain. Today was crazy. After 2 weeks of no snow or rain and sunny days it snowed and rained all in one day. And that on a day I needed to be out a lot walking to meetings and more.

Not complaining about the weather, but more about the fact that it's tough to keep my jeans dry until it's time to wash them.

For those that don't know why it's important to keep them dry, it's because raw denim has never been washed or has never been in water and they shrink about 5 % or 2 cm during the first wash. That's why it's good to wear them in for 6 months before you wash them the first time.

Day 128 | All the snow is gone

We had a fantastic start to the day today. We woke up with about 5 inches of snow on the ground. Everything was white, and it was still snowing, when I was on my short walk to work. Absolutely fantastic. Or to me it is anyway, coming from South Africa, where I have never touched snow in 30 or so years.

The only sad thing was that by 5pm it was all gone,
because the temperature went to plus five today. It's been such a weird winter so far. Actually very warm, considering. No rain to speak of. No storms or howling winds. Just the odd day of snow and the odd day of sunshine. I've actually started thinking about summer already.

I'm putting these jeans on the kitchen table again tomorrow and running over it with a damp cloth, just to get the snow and mud splatters from today out again.

Day 99 | More blue

It's quite difficult not get water close to your jeans, when you live in a country like Sweden, and of all places Gothenburg. It has so far rained five out of seven days for the past month. The temperatures have been hovering between zero and ten degrees Celsius, so it's always wet. I do not mind the cold, but it's much better when the temperatures go below zero degrees Celsius, because that means that everything is frozen, and there's no rain.

I'm not that lucky though. My white Coverse have been on the receiving end of the blue denim dye dripping on them. It's usually the bottom hems of my jeans that stick out from under my long winter jacket, and never gets protected from the rain when I have my umbrella out. So it is always wet and hanging over my white shoes. Maybe not the best shoes to have on when it rains, but I just love them so much.

Day 81 | 100 days left

Today we were basically out the whole day for a walk in the forest. It snowed here in Gothenburg two days ago, but not a lot, and the snow is still on the ground. It is really cold, and today was the first time that I had my down feather, extra padded, winter jacket on, as well as my thermal underwear, scarf and beanie. So you see what I mean by cold. But it was beautiful, and really nice to be out with the whole family and the dog.

I've written a lot about the weather, and how I think these jeans will hold up for the next one hundred days through the Swedish winter. As long as it doesn't rain along with a strong wind, as on Day 53, it'll be OK. For one thing, they don't keep the cold out, so I will need to wear thermal underwear to keep me warm, and then they might stretch a little more than usual with the extra layer, but I'll have to wait and see what happens. Should help with keeping the sweat away though, seeing that the first wash is still one hundred days away.

The two photos show the knees, front and back, and how they have been stretched in the front and creased in the back, over the past eighty one days of continuous wear. They really have become comfortable though.

Day 54 | The band plays on

As I said yesterday, we went to a place in Gothenburg, called Kontiki, to go and watch a friend of ours perform with his band "The Flamingo Stingers". They have five tracks on MySpace, if you're interested to listen to them play. They consist of a trombonist, saxophonist, electric guitarist, bass guitarist and drummer. It was just the right kind of music to get everyone on the floor dancing.

I was a little concerned though this morning when I finally got up from the long night out and the buckets of rain that poured down, when I looked at my once white shoes. My jeans were so wet from walking in the rain, that the blue ink was all over my shoes. I posted a comment about it on day 14 when the same thing happened, from the rain. They needed a good cleaning afterwards. I just wonder how much the denim is shrinking already from getting so wet?

Day 53 | The first winter storm

If this is the sign of things to come, it's going to be a nightmare trying trying to keep these jeans dry, during the next 128 days, in anticipation for its first wash. We're having the mother of all storms here at the moment.

The day started off with Canadian pancakes, at 10h30, then at 11h30 the turkey went into the oven, to start our day of cooking a Thanksgiving dinner together with friends, at their place. I know it's not Thanksgiving day, but it was the only weekend we all had open to have the feast. Everything was done and prepared at 17h00, when the rest of the guests arrived. By 21h00, we were on our way again, to go and watch a friend and his band play at a club close by, called Kontiki. The band is called "The Flamingo Stingers". They have some music available on MySpace to listen to. They were really good. However, by this time, the mother of all storms have started pouring buckets of rain into the streets.

After the band was done, I went out with my "little sister" and her friends to another place down town, in the pouring rain, and only came home at around 04h00, hence the late posting today, and the wet jeans. The fortunate thing is that we're setting our clocks back one hour tonight, so we all get one hour extra sleep, and the jeans have an extra hour to get dry. What a fantastic day.

Day 48 | Monday is just another day

I looked back at some of the posts I've written over the past 48 days, about the same pair of jeans, and wondered by myself, why I am doing this? I really don't know, is the right answer, but I try not do anything ever, if it's not going to be fun and I if I'm not going to learn something along the way. Take day 35 and day 36 for instance when I learnt a lot about dry-cleaning denim. Then there was day 4, 5 and 6, when I tried to keep the denim dry in the rain, but couldn't, and saw what rain does to raw denim. I still have 133 days to go, so there's lots still to learn. Who knows what waits around the next corner?

I've included front and back photos of the jeans, and what they look like now, after 48 days. I need to actually spend tomorrow doing some "dry-cleaning" myself, just to get some small stains and marks out. More on that tomorrow.

Day 44 | Awfully wet

Just heard we will be spending a week up north in sweden, again this year for Christmas and new years. Will be my 2nd white Christmas in a row. You don't get to see much snow in a country like South Africa, but I've quickly needed to get used to the cold and the darkness, that winter brings to a country like Sweden.

Not sure though what will happen to the jeans testing. Sure seems like it's going to be awfully wet. Lots of snow, and if it's not snowing it'll be raining. And then there's the fact that there's very little sunshine, so if the jeans got wet, they will have to be dried close to a dryer or something. But that's another bridge to cross when I get there.

For now it's autumn. The leaves are falling to the ground, and everything is beautiful. Plus it hasn't rained much yet, so that's been good.

Day 38 | Autumn has arrived

It's official. Autumn is here. At the moment there's a bit of rain. Not hard driving rain, but a bit of drizzle. The wind has been blowing a lot last night, which means most of the leaves which have been turning red, then orange, then yellow over the past few weeks, are now lying on the ground.

As I said before, the goal is to not wash these jeans for six months. We're now 38 days in, and it seems as if it's going to be impossible to keep them dry with a rainy autumn here at the moment, and a snowy winter on the way. Should be fun though.

As you can see I got the Dr.Martens (boots) out again to keep my feet dry with the rain, along with my long coat. Other than that, it's beautiful outside at the moment with all the leaves on the ground.

Day 29 | More creases in the denim

As I said I would on Day 27 about the progress of my Dr.Denim Harris Blue Black Raw jeans so far, here are more photos.

The creases below the front pockets look very permanent already. Must be from sitting in front of my laptop all day. No colour change as yet, or maybe just a little, but I didn't expect much after only 29 days. The denim is much softer now and is still really nice on, and the feel is great.

We had some rain today, but fortunately got nothing on me. The weather forecast have predicted the first snow up north in Sweden, and it made me think of how the denim will handle lots of snow, all the wetness, and the cold. We'll see in two months time, when we expect our first snow here in Gothenburg.